SORTIS was established in November 2006 by Mr. Matin Paev, CFA as a group of four companies: SORTIS Invest, SORTIS Real Estate, SORTIS Credit and SORTIS Hospitality. The group specializes in Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Venture capital, Investment management in real estate, Credit and leasing advising, as well as Hotel management. The Company has facilitated some of the most complicated M&A transactions in Bulgaria.
Case Studies:
Cremio
Three-Stage Management Buyout
Cremio AD (then Codap EOOD) used to be the Bulgarian operation of Co.Da.P Cola Dairy Products Spa (Italy), one of the largest vegetable cream producers in Europe.
In 2015, due to an insolvency procedure for the parent started in Italy, UniCredit, one of the lending banks of the Bulgarian subsidiary, launched a foreclosure with the intention to sell the going concern of Codap EOOD. Codap
EOOD itself was a profitable and growing business.
The management team of Codap EOOD engaged SORTIS to assist them in implementing a management buyout (MBO) of the Bulgarian subsidiary.
SORTIS devised and successfully implemented a long-term MBO strategy in three stages to ensure a win-win outcome for all parties involved:
Stage 1: In a very time sensitive situation, SORTIS blocked a hostile takeover attempt and lined-up a consortium of financial investors that backed the management team in acquiring the going concern from the lending bank in July 2015. Тhe transaction was the first ever sale of an operating going concern in Bulgaria.
Stage 2: 8 months later SORTIS arranged a refinancing of the mezzanine loan provided by the financial investors with a bank debt of €7M from Societe Generale. The financial investors realized a return of ca. 20% on their mezzanine investment and remained minority shareholders in Cremio AD.
Stage 3: In 2017, SORTIS structured and negotiated acquisition financing from First Investment Bank to buy out the remaining shares of the financial investors. The management team obtained 100% ownership of the Company. Cremio grew with 40% since the MBO and now exports to 30+ countries.
SORTIS was invited to Cremio’s Board of Directors.
TBI Rent Sell-Side Advisory
TBI Rent was the largest independent vehicle operating leasing provider in Bulgaria, owned by TBI Bank, a niche local commercial bank.
In 2016 TBI Bank was acquired by 4finance Holding, one of Europe’s largest online consumer lending groups operating in 14 countries, with the goal of entering the Bulgarian retail lending market. In line with this strategy, TBI Bank chose to divest its non-core TBI Rent operation.
SORTIS Invest was selected in a beauty contest as the exclusive financial advisor of TBI Bank for the sale of TBI Rent.
SORTIS managed the entire sale process from preparing the transaction documents, through deal marketing, to non-binding and binding offers evaluation, negotiations and closing. Both local and international bidders were attracted for a very competitive process.
Deal was signed two weeks ahead of schedule.
Sale price significantly exceeded Seller’s original target.
Fin Analytica Series A Fundraising
One of the earliest venture capital deals in Bulgaria (2008) that marked the emergence of the country’s VC industry.
FinAnalytica (now part of FactSet) was a financial services software provider, whose solution for market risk management, portfolio construction and investment decision analytics is used by hedge funds and other institutional investors globally. The company had four international patents related to a proprietary methodology for calculating Value at Risk (VaR).
FinAnalytica contacted SORTIS Invest to assist in raising Series A financing for its further development. The Company already had a term sheet from a US investment fund but was not satisfied with the terms of the proposed transaction.
SORTIS marketed the opportunity to additional financial investors and secured a more competitive proposal from New Europe Venture Equity (NEVEQ), a Bulgaria-based tech venture capital investor that, at the time, was in the process of closing its first fund.
Company owners and management were able to select an offer that aligned better with their interests.
Ultimately FinAnalytica closed a deal for a $5M investment from NEVEQ. One year later NEVEQ did a follow-on investment of additional $3M in the Company.